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Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 8/24/16: Stick To The Plan

“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.

(Aired 8/24/16)

Stick To The Plan

– To nobody’s surprise, NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II stole SummerSlam weekend in all its goodness. In line with highlight videos of past TakeOver events, we saw the cool slow-motion effects as everything newsworthy from the event was covered, from No Way Jose’s conga line, Hideo Itami’s Go To Sleep on Austin Aries, Ember Moon’s finisher to Bobby Roode’s “Glorious” entrance and the fantastic NXT Tag Team Championship match where Johnny Gargano/Tommaso Ciampa fell short against Champions The Revival to Bayley’s failure to regain gold and Shinsuke Nakamura’s fulfilled mission to win it. We came out of this with the idea that a “new chapter was written” and how right they were.

– This was basically what we’d call TakeOver: Brooklyn 2.5, as it featured soundbites from Saturday’s competitors and mixed it with a couple of matches with talent that wasn’t featured on TakeOver for better or worse. The Tye Dillinger-Wesley Blake match seemed to be all about getting Dillinger back on the winning track, as he explored his pandering babyface side. With the fully supportive Brooklyn crowd and their enthusiastic “10” gestures, it was hard not to get washed up in that electricity. You wonder why NXT is so hot and we have to point to Dillinger’s entrance as one of those reasons. At the same time, you had Blake emerging as a singles competitor and was a good contrast to the popular Dillinger. Blake played off the crowd in a way that didn’t lessen him, but actually got better as the match progressed. Loved the eye poke by Blake behind the Referee’s eye. Just when it seemed like Blake had things sorted out, Dillinger kept up a late comeback and finished Blake off with the Tye Breaker. Nice name for a finisher and overall, a logical way to establish Dillinger as somebody who could be a key player down the road. Thank god they’ve taken him out of pest heel jobber territory. He could be a guy to one day carry the brand.

– Roode’s backstage promo taped after his match at TakeOver fed into his self-obsessed “glorious” persona as he claimed himself winning shouldn’t had been a surprise to anybody. Also liked how he essentially rubbed it in everybody’s faces that he was “late for dinner with Fortune 500 executives on Madison Avenue.” Mr. Wall Street, himself.

– Aries’ backstage promo taped after his TakeOver match seemed to set things forward as far as a feud with Itami. Aries had the decisive win over No Way Jose that also built up NWJ as somebody who could hang, yet Aries should’ve been the bigger deal. This feud will be great already. Also liked how Aries tied in heel logic from always being the target at somebody else’s expense, right from his NXT debut where Baron Corbin ambushed him from behind. His line where he vowed to end Itami’s career was a strong one. It’ll be cool to see how Itami responds in the coming weeks.

– Bayley’s backstage promo after her TakeOver match capped off the “emotional sendoff” of her NXT stint, as she reflected on her failed goal of beating NXT Women’s Champion Asuka despite having her well-scouted this time and not passing out to lose. Also liked the “home court advantage” line that acknowledged her luck at Barclays Center. We also saw a cool interaction between newcomer Ember Moon and Bayley, where Moon called Bayley as inspiration to her and why she was there to begin with. Moon gets the rub from the veteran. Also talked about was Bayley’s Raw debut, which showed a silver lining in all of this, with her SummerSlam weekend ending on a positive note.

– The Revival’s backstage promo after their TakeOver match fit their character of hard-hitting, old-school southern heels who had the tendency to back up their claims of being the best. We wonder if NXT will make good on Scott Dawson’s request to take on main roster teams. It’s only a matter of time before Revival get called up.

– Another Sanity hype video aired, again the same riot footage we saw at TakeOver. Wonder how that’ll unfold in the coming weeks too. Even with all the talent getting called up, we still have things left to look forward to and a nice roster ready to prove themselves.

– The TM61-Authors Of Pain main event was the right time for each time to face one another as they loom to establish themselves in the Tag Team Division. TM61 had their moment as they took it hard to AOP before the bell even rang, as they got some serious air time on a Tope Con Hilo, almost in stereo. After the bell, AOP “stuck to the plan” (by Paul Ellering’s words) and used muscle and finesse to overthrow the upbeat offense. There was a brief tease of an upset, but you could add TM61 to the defeated list of AOP. We’re fine with that, as AOP needed the win more to cement themselves as threats to the NXT roster. The duo powerbombs were a nice touch to their arsenal.

Quick Results

Tye Dillinger def. Wesley Blake via pinfall

The Authors Of Pain (w/Paul Ellering) def. TM61 via pinfall

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About Nicholas Jason Lopez

Just a 25 year-old Brooklynite. Nothing more, nothing less.
Currently Freelancing for The Bensonhurst Bean website in Brooklyn, he has also been published on sites such as Review Fix, College University of New York Athletic Conference, Dying Scene, Brooklyn News Service, All Media NY, BrooklynFans.com and Yahoo Voices.
He has also interned for The Home Reporter/Brooklyn Spectator based out of Brooklyn, NY.